Castine Historical Society Announces 2012 Annual Meeting

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Post Date: August 17, 2012 12:38 pmUpdated: August 17, 2012 12:41 pm

Castine, Maine – The Castine Historical Society will hold its 2012 Annual Meeting on Friday, August 24 at 7:30pm in the Mitchell Room on the lower level of the Society’s Abbott School on the Castine town common. Following a brief business meeting, the evening’s program includes the screening of a 1977 documentary film featuring maritime collector Allie Ryan. The event is free and open to the public as well as CHS members, and light refreshments will be served.
Allie Ryan (1904-1992) was a passionate collector of almost anything with a maritime theme. His home in South Brooksville was filled from floor to ceiling with books, paintings, maritime artifacts, newspaper clippings and local history memorabilia. During his lifetime, Allie Ryan generously shared both his collection and his expertise with museums and libraries, authoring articles on steamboat lore and even producing a book of Penobscot Bay steamboat stories and photographs. He originally donated the bulk of his collection to Maine Maritime Academy, and it was later transferred to the Maine State Museum in Augusta. When the Maine State Museum decided to de-accession selected items from the collection in January 2012, a group of artifacts returned to Castine and are on display this summer in a special exhibit at the Wilson Museum. The documentary film being presented at the CHS annual meeting on Friday, August 24, features Allie Ryan being interviewed about his maritime passion by John Gardner at the small museum set up by Maine Maritime Academy in the late 1970’s to display the collection.
The Castine Historical Society is open seven days a week through Labor Day; 10am-4pm Mondays-Saturdays and 1-4pm Sundays. After Labor Day, the Society’s exhibits will be open to the public Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, and open by appointment on other days. In addition to a seasonal exhibit on Schooner Bowdoin’s World War II service, the Society offers a permanent exhibit on the Penobscot Expedition of 1779 and a gift shop at its location in the Abbott School on the town common in Castine. For more information on membership in the Society, the exhibits and the annual meeting, visit CHS online at www.castinehistoricalsociety.org, email info@castinehistoricalsociety.org or call 207-326-4118.